Passion of the Phoenix
by LoricFive99
Summary: Follow the story of SHD Agents Christopher Cage, Marcus Webb, Alani Kelso, Rogue Agent Aaron Keener, and many more as secrets are revealed, relationships are tested, and the good fight continues on. The world may have already gone to hell, but these people are dedicated to saving what remains. It's hard to save people in a war though, and the war has only just begun!
1. Chapter 1

Washington, D.C. The city was nothing short of surprises. Especially post-outbreak. If it wasn't one dilemma, it was another, and given the circumstances, things had been pretty fucked up since Black Friday. Outcasts, Hyenas, True Sons, Black Tusk, the Underground, even the occasional sighting of a Hunter; you name it, it was there to cause trouble and disturb the peace. Those groups always kept the agents of the Strategic Homeland Division busy.

Today was a particularly hellacious and busy day. The "Sheriff" and his group of agents from around D.C. had taken on and defeated the Black Tusk at Washington International Airport. Truth be told, he was getting really tired. Really tired and pissed off. You'd think that being in the city and saving the majority of the JTF's asses would have at least earned him the right of somebody asking what his actual name was; everybody just called him "The Sheriff", everyone except four of his fellow agents. But that was different for the sole fact that three of them were his squad mates from his original cell, and the other was the toughest woman he'd ever met in his entire life, Agent Alani Kelso. His name was Christopher Cage, and he and his squad were known as The Animals. The sad fact, however, was that he just didn't have time to socialize. Not like there was much to talk about anyhow these days.

_Hey, how've you been? Oh, I'm making it just fine I suppose. You know how it is, sabotaging True Sons' DC-62 supply, killing a bunch of Hyenas, finding Agent Edwards strung up and brutally murdered. I'm living the capitalist dream! _Christopher couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Yeah he'd get a woman's number in no time with a conversation starter like that.

Christopher couldn't remember the last time a day went by where he didn't kill somebody. Sure, there was no shortage of scum in this city that needed to be wiped from the face of the Earth, but that didn't make the killing any easier. He was beginning to enjoy it, the killing. To him, there was just something about it that felt pure, as if even though he was taking another life he was making the world a better place, and hey, that's something he could live with.

He realized he enjoyed the killing when the team mowed through the entire airport in just under an hour. _I wonder how the others feel about it all. _Looking around, Christopher took in the sight of his fellow agents. Jared Price, the gunner of the team, had been one of the four guys injured in the assault on the airport. He'd live, but it'd be a while before he could use his left arm again, and that meant staying at the main Base of Operations. Jared hated staying behind while everybody else went out. However, he always managed to be productive while he was at the Base of Operations, whether it be instructing a team of JTF soldiers on their aiming in the gun range in the lower levels, or in an intelligence briefing on bounties that had been placed on the many enemies throughout the city.

James Ferrer was a unique case. The technician of the group, he was always tinkering with some kind of SHD tech. And whenever he wasn't tinkering with it, he was putting it to deadly use. Christopher always enjoyed the perks that ISAC and the SHD tech brought, but James practically worshipped it. This was the guy that had managed to turn a cluster seeker mine, that originally housed four separate explosives, into a baseball-sized powerhouse of 11 explosives. Needless to say, James loved his toys. Between the mines and his P-017 guided rocket launcher, that man was set.

Lastly, there was Cody Revots. Here was a man that found shooting a crossbow with explosive bolts at an Outcast suicide bomber to be a "safety precaution". When asked about it, his answer was always the same. "Is it a waste of explosives? Maybe. Is it redundant? Most definitely. Destroying explosives with explosives is something my old man would have called counter-productive. Maybe that's why I do it, because it reminds me of him." Aside from Cody, there was the other four man team of agents. Christopher didn't know them that well, aside from their callsigns, but they worked like a damn good team altogether, getting the job done.

The chopper ride back was peaceful. No threat of being shot down out of the sky, just a nice little ride back to the White House. Christopher's mind was already made up; get back to the base, wind down for the day, take a hot shower and then get a decent meal and some much needed sleep. Manny had already told the two squads that they had set aside separate rooms for the each of them. "After all," the comms runner had said, "heroes deserve the rewards that they fought to achieve." _Damn straight._

Whenever the chopper landed on the helo-pad, the men got off and trudged down the staircase, where they were welcomed by a multitude of JTF officials, along with fellow agents like Alani Kelso and Odessa Sawyer. It didn't take long for word to spread around what the raiders had done to the Black Tusk. Everybody was giving them applause, whistles, and cheers. For the first time in months, Christopher and his men felt like they were the knights in shining armor, like whenever they had first been activated.

Falling back into the White House, the eight agents made their way to the rooms that had been set aside for them all. Christopher spoke with all of them, congratulating them and saying that with their work ethic and cohesiveness as a group, the eight of them would bring down Aaron Keener in no time. They all bid farewell to one another for the night, going their separate ways throughout the White House. Christopher then went to his room, finally letting loose and taking it easy.

As he entered the room, he set the grenade launcher on the table with all of the 40mm rounds, then proceeded to downgrade from all of his armor to just his regular clothing. _Now to get to the latrine before Cody does. That fucker always uses up too much of the hot water._ Grabbing another set of clothing along with his hygienic bag, Christopher arrived to the latrine and was quite happy to find that he was the only one there; which meant he'd get first dibs on the hot water.

It also meant he'd have some much needed privacy, which was in short supply whenever it came to the shower area. The man just needed some time to himself, to contemplate on what all would be next, who would need saving, and how he was going to stop the next big threat. These thoughts and more were racing through his mind as the scalding hot water came down upon him. He looked down at his hands, looking at the callouses that had taken shape from all the guns and knives he'd wielded against those that meant him harm.

In the process of washing, his hand traced the scar on his left shoulder that the Hunter with yellow striped mask had given him. It had taken a full month for him to recover from the injury, and while his team did well and completed the missions without him, it still didn't change the fact that his encounter with the "high-threat hostile in proximity" had left psychological scars as well as the physical ones. Aside from that, the yellow striped one, whom he had dubbed "Stinger", was the only one in the DC area that he had not killed yet. All of the other 12 Hunters had been successfully neutralized by Christopher and his squad. He wanted to go after the bastard, take his own axe, and cut his damn head off with it.

_In the meantime though, fuck that guy. Me and my guys just saved the city from being swarmed by the drones of the Razorback. We prevented another attempted Black Tusk takeover. Stinger can just hold tight and enjoy life while he still can. Cause whenever I catch up to him, he's good as dead._

As he turned off the water and finished drying up, it was about that time that the latrine door opened and none other than agent Alani Kelso, the woman with no fear, walked right in to the sight of his naked form. This action earned a surprised and frightened yelp from both Division agents, who were beginning to turn a deep shade of red. Christopher scrambled to wrap his towel around him while Alani was desperately trying to avoid looking at the man.

_As unprofessional as the thought is, Christopher sure is packing. Both up and downstairs. Man the kind of night I would have with him – Whoa whoa whoa Kelso. What the fuck kind of thinking is that?! You have once again managed to become the queen of dumbass thoughts. Shit! You haven't said a word yet to him! Apologize before he walks out and things become awkward!_

"I- I'm terribly sorry I walked in on you. I- uh, I- um, didn't know you were in here." She finally looked over to see that he had wrapped the towel around his waist, leaving his upper body area exposed. He looked as embarrassed as she probably did, completely red in the face and looking nervous as humanly possible.

"Y-You're fine, n- no worries, I promise. I'll just be heading on my way then." Christopher gathered his clothes and walked out, trying not to look Alani Kelso in the eye. He hadn't been with a woman in a while, and to suddenly have one bust in while he was in the nude definitely made him slightly self-conscience to his appearance. But that was neither here nor there. The two of them had a strictly professional relationship. Ok, maybe not strictly professional. She too was one of the agents who knew his actual name. He had taken a bullet for her during their mission to recover Odessa Sawyer's daughter from the Hyenas. She had always been grateful to him for that, yet she had never actually thanked him. She wasn't one much for words anyhow.

Christopher got back to the designated changing room, and began to get dressed until he realized that he had left his sidearm in the shower area; with D.C. being as dangerous as it was, he didn't take any chances, even within the confines of the walls of the White House. Still only wearing the towel wrapped around his waist, he trudged back in, opening the door to the shower area, only for he himself to be surprised with the naked form of Alani Kelso, who had decided to shower as well.

Once again, their respective reactions were the same as before, only Alani had decided to speak up and say, "What the actual fuck!" to which he responded, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I left my sidearm in here!" Averting his eyes from the sight of her naked form, he walked forward to grab his sidearm on the sink next to the threshold of the shower area. However, fate had decided to be a cruel bitch on this day, because whenever Christopher stepped forward, his towel was caught on the nail of the doorway, ripping away his means of concealment. Alani, who had been watching it all, was once again surprised with the sight of the Sheriff's other "sidearm". Christopher had yelped in surprise and immediately moved to conceal his nether region, but only managed to partially conceal it, considering the fact that he was still trying to get his pistol.

Needless to say though, Alani was impressed with the man's build, having yet another glance at his physique. Christopher immediately felt eyes staring into him, and gave up on trying to avoid having any further part of himself being exposed, as Alani just stood there, no longer bothering to cover herself up. An awkward and heavy silence settled between the two, and Christopher turned around and was about to walk out before Alani spoke, "I never got the chance that day to say thank you for taking that bullet for me. We were rushed back to the Theatre settlement, and you were losing a lot of blood. After you went under for the surgery and removal of the bullet, we both had separate assignments and I just never got around to seeing you. Not until today, that is."

Turning his head, Christopher glanced back at Alani and said, "I know. Life here lately has been so fubar that you never know what'll happen next. And you never had to say thank you Alani. You said thank you whenever you kept me from bleeding out." He looked away for a moment, and then looked back to her, but she had moved towards him in that short timespan, getting right into his personal space. Her eyes flickered over to the large scar on his left shoulder with a look of concern. She'd heard stories of an agent who survived a strike from a Hunter's axe and lived to tell the tale.

"Wait, is that what I think it is?" She reached a hand out, as if to touch it, and Christopher felt a jolt run through him whenever her hand laid itself directly upon his scar from the encounter with Stinger. "This is the scar from your one on one encounter with the last Hunter isn't it?" He nodded solemnly. "I was attacked by the last Hunter in D.C. If it hadn't been for my guys showing up when they did, I wouldn't be alive. Jared and James chased him off once he got the drop on me while Cody attempted to stop the bleeding, but I was out of action for a month. I was lucky not to be anymore injured than I was. I'd been tracking this guy for a while. Oddly enough the day after I recovered from the wound and was cleared for combat was the day I took the bullet for you."

He chuckled. "I've got to have some of the worst luck in the history of ever." Alani moved her hand from his left shoulder to the back of his neck. When she spoke, her voice had taken on a softer tone, it wasn't the harsh Army Ranger he was used to hearing. "Well you might be unlucky, but I was damn lucky to have you there for me. Because if you hadn't taken that bullet for me when you did, I would definitely be dead. And I can't thank you enough for it."

She moved another step closer to Christopher, this time really getting into his personal space. It suddenly occurred to Christopher that here he was, fully naked, and here she was, fully naked, with no more than a meter between the two of them. "But," she spoke again softly, "I think I know a way to show it." And at that, with her hand still on the back of his neck gripping him, she brought him down to meet her in the middle. There, she kissed him gently on the lips, to which he returned in kind after the initial shock had passed over him. After she broke the kiss, she slapped him on his ass, something he was not at all expecting. "That was for walking in on me," she stated. Having recovered from the shock, Christopher responded, "Yeah? Well this is for walking in on _me,_" to which he then slapped her on her ass. Slack-jawed, she decided to surprise him once again; not with another slap, but with another kiss. Having anticipated it this time around, Christopher embraced her fully while he kissed her. He broke the kiss, looked back at her, expecting some kind of reprimand or something of the sort, as such was Kelso's way of life. Yet all she did was look him in the eye with an expression of burning desire. The two then shared a kiss that kindled the sparks of what was soon to be a night of fiery passion.

Once the both of them were well on the path to fornicating in the shower areas, two things suddenly occurred to Christopher. One, both of them were naked, kissing, their hands were beginning to roam, and both of their moans weren't at all quiet. And two, the both of them were in a compromising position that could be interrupted at any given moment. Yeah Christopher wasn't about to let that happen. He broke the kiss between them. Alani looked up at him with confusion, poised to speak but Christopher cut her off, saying, "I would rather we do this in my room, a room with a lock and a high chance of not being disturbed, than in a room where we could have our moment barged in on at any given time." She nodded her head up and down, agreeing with him wholeheartedly. "Yeah, I'd rather that didn't happen."

She managed to squeeze in a couple more kisses before breaking away so that she could dry off and get dressed. He returned to where his other stuff was, and also got dressed. So quickly, the two Agents rushed back to his room on the lower levels of the Base of Operations. Christopher had chosen his room well, as there were no adjacent rooms or neighbors. Having been the Agent that saved the White House from that Hyena attack so long ago, his reward was to pick his own private room. Once they were behind his door and it was locked, he surprised her by picking her up and carrying her over to the mattress, which was pulled away from the wall, which happened to seem convenient to both of them given the circumstances. The man didn't particularly care for aesthetics in his room, other than an old, beat up chest which housed some clothes of his, a lamp, a table and chair, and the bed itself. Once they had both settled down onto the bed, they proceeded to strip each other of their clothes until they were in the same situation they had found themselves in earlier on, albeit slightly dryer and now completely undisturbed.

Christopher's mind was completely blown away. He and Alani Frickin' Kelso were in HIS room, on HIS bed, in the process of having SEX. Wow. If somebody had told him when he woke up this morning that he and Alani would shack up, not only would he have laughed, he would have found Alani, made the guy who told him tell her, then laugh at said guy whenever Alani would break his nose.

Leaving a trail of kisses up and down her body only made Alani's moaning get louder. While they were trying to maintain some kind of secrecy with their actions, as Division agents weren't exactly allowed to hook up with one another, it soon got to the point where both agents no longer cared if they were loud or not. The door was locked, and the windows were closed, (the fan was on, thank God) that's all that mattered in that sense. Finally, after minutes of foreplay (Christopher discovered Alani was just as aggressive in bed as she was on the battlefield), he entered her; both let out a shaky breath, as a connection so strong as what they currently shared had not been felt in so long. Christopher, with each thrust, felt that much closer to Alani. She was clinging to him as if there were no tomorrow, urging him to keep going, don't stop, and _please_ go harder, all to which he happily obliged. The fire burning in the pit of his stomach was something that he soon felt throughout his whole body. It all made him feel like the firebird that represented their agency, and he imagined that she felt something of a similar sense.

Getting closer to the edge, Alani had stopped speaking at this point, only taking in sharp breaths and letting out moans, until she felt that she was right on the edge. At that instant, she wrapped her legs around Christopher, wanting to embrace it with him. Around the same time she climaxed, so did he. Completely speechless, out of breath, and already tired from the day's earlier activities at the airport, Christopher was beginning to fall in a trance that would eventually lead to a peaceful slumber. Not wanting to leave him be nor be alone that night, Alani did something that neither of them would have thought that she would do before that moment; she hooked a leg around one of his, and then pulled herself over to him so that she could rest her head on his chest. Christopher then wrapped both of his arms around her in a comforting, protective embrace, as if she would be taken from him and this moment of bliss would be lost. The both of them realized there probably would not be another time like this, where they're both so vulnerable and exposed to one another in a light that no one else had seen. So for that night, they took in every moment with the other that they could get, meaning more rounds of passion, more chances for the both of them to burn with the fire of a phoenix. For when the sun came up the next day, they both knew that they'd be thrust back into the violent world that had become their day-to-day life.

Little did they know that their world was changed forever on that night. For on that night, **Christopher Cage and Alani Kelso had conceived a child.**


	2. Chapter 2

Agent Cage woke with a start in the middle of the night, jolting up in bed. He was shocked as he felt resistance, before realizing that an arm was draped across his chest; wait, not just any arm, Agent Kelso's arm. Memories from hours beforehand came back to his mind, and he remembered just what exactly had transpired between them. He wondered if something like this would ever happen again, or if it was just a one-time thing.

Yeah, it was probably the latter.

Cage decided to just relax, take in the moment and enjoy it before something or someone decided to come along and disturb the peace. So he laid back down, pulling Kelso closer towards him in the process; she responded by burying herself further into his chest, and tightening her grip around him. She was in that half-awake/half-asleep phase, having been stirred by Cage's sudden wake-up. She then mumbled loud enough for him to hear, "You're a lot warmer than my cat was, that's for sure." Cage just chuckled.

Wrapping his arms around her in an embrace, Cage intended to be her personal warmer all night long, however long that would be.

Meanwhile, over 200 miles away, Vanguard was at work. He knew that his vision would bring a sort of clarity to this harsh world that everyone lived in now. Parnell had accomplished wonders with his technological works, he had high hopes for him in the future that was being set in store. Dragov and Conley were the perfect pawns that anyone could ask for. And as for Kajika?

What better attack dog to sic on the government than one of their best ex-hitmen?

Yes, Aaron Keener had a master plan that was going to help this world prosper. As nice as it was to have his four lieutenants, he still knew that he needed more. Since the events at the United Nations Building and his theft of Tchernenko and Amherst's research, there have been more Agents that have disavowed the Division and have henceforth been marked as Rogue. Yet, there were still those who decided to continue on with their blind loyalty to the remnants of the American government.

They called him a terrorist. A traitor to the nation. Last time Keener checked, he didn't abandon any of his people in that dreaded land, The Dark Zone. He didn't cut the rope that was a lifeline to the members of his team. No, the JTF did that. And now, they would pay the ultimate price for their treachery.

In a makeshift lab, Vitaly Tchernenko was working on his most recent and devastating compound yet. Keener had decided to call it Eclipse, a far more deadly variant of chimera variola. Unlike its predecessor, it was fast acting, and death was guaranteed within minutes. Keener knew just the target for his new little toy as well. But first, there was some last minute business to tend to.

"_Just one last thing. If you ever get off of this rock, don't come looking for me. When I need to, I'll find you."_

Agent Marcus Webb remembers those words on a daily basis, ever since he found the cellphone recording that Keener left behind at the piers. There had been no sign of the man since the incident at the U.N., with mostly everyone being focused on the fall of the LMB after he had shot down Bliss' helicopter.

He sat in his little camp chair he had managed to get out of the Dark Zone a while back. Perched a top the Base of Operations, with the moon shining on the city, he was getting ready to call it a day. And oh, what a day it had been. Aside from running into what could only be called a Hunter, his day was alright enough. But Webb didn't come out of the fight unscathed. He'd gone back to Amherst's apartment, and was deeply disturbed that he was not the only one to have done so.

Somebody else wanted Amherst, but like the Division, they too fell short of their goal before Keener stepped into the picture. Keener had beat him to a lot of things. He'd managed to get off of Manhattan Island, had obtained the virus printer, the scientist with the know-how, and what all had Webb managed to do? Oh, that's right; get clipped in the face with an axe from a masked homicidal anti-Agent, remain stuck on the damned island, even after the SHD network went down, and last but not least, watch every member of his original Agent cell get killed.

Webb took a sip from his flask, savoring the burning calm that the whiskey brought him. Rhodes had given him a whole fifth of Jim Beam as his way of saying thank you before he left to go start a new community. Faye was completely against it, but Benitez acted as mediator and the rest was history. Hell, the only one out of their lucky little bunch to make it off the island was Dr. Kandel, and she was operating out of a facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Then there was the newest hornet's nest that had been rattled; the Black Tusk Special Unit. Word had trickled from Washington that after the president was recovered, he turned his back on the Division, along with the rest of the JTF, to side with them. They were practically a militarized version of SHD Agents. Webb probably would've continued to wonder on and on within his thoughts had he not seen a rather odd sight not far off in the distance.

About 4 blocks away, a flare had been shot off. It wasn't the usual red flare that people had taken to using on the island to signal that they needed reinforcements for an attack on an enemy controlled compound. This flare was green, and a few seconds after it went up, another followed suit. Two green flares.

Alright, the curiosity was piqued, and it was better than pondering and getting drunk at 1:00 AM in the morning. Webb grabbed his gear, wrote a note which he laid in his bunk, then began heading towards where the flare was shot above. Within 20 minutes, he found himself at an alley way that seemed just a little too suspicious.

Webb, his "Golden Rhino" revolver out and ready to use, scouted out the area, pulsing it to check for any hostiles. Much to his surprise, multiple pings rang out, along with ISAC ominously saying, "Warning, Rogue Agents detected." A shiver went down Webb's spine, and as he turned to leave the alley way, his path was blocked by two figures, both holding weapons up at him, ready to kill. He turned back around to see two more figures with their weapons at the ready. Between those two came one more, his watch glowing a bright red, just as the rest of the other Agent's watches did. Holstering his pistol as he knew he was outmatched, Webb simply took a flare off of his vest, struck it across the ground, and lit up the alley around him in a bright red light.

Before him stood Javier Kajika, Vivian Conley, James Dragov, Theo Parnell, and last but not least, one Aaron Keener. Keener stepped forward until he was within a few yards of Webb. He clapped his hands together, smiled, and said, "Marcus! We need to have a talk, old friend."

"Keener, why should I even bother listening to you? You know that we've got shoot-on-sight orders for you right?" Webb said. He had expected Keener to be far away from Manhattan, not back at where it all started. Keener just chuckled before he spoke once again. He was eager to see the reaction on Webb's face.

"The reason I have will convince you to do a lot more than just talk to me. You'll be joining me soon enough. I take it you're familiar with a private military company by the name of Black Tusk?" He spoke nonchalantly. Webb grunted; what Division Agent didn't know who and what Black Tusk was these days?

"Yeah I'm familiar with the bunch. They're just a super version of Charles Bliss and his LMB boys. They didn't last long, and I'm positive that Black Tusk won't last long either. Why are you mentioning them?"

"Were you aware that they were working alongside Andrew Ellis, former House Speaker and current President of these United States? Or that their sole purpose is to eliminate and replace each and every last Division Agent, Rogue or not?"

"What are you saying Keener? That it no longer matters who's right or wrong, we should all band together for the greater good? Yeah I don't think so. Sure, Black Tusk may be a common enemy for the both of us, but let's think about that for a second. They want you dead because of how you originally disavowed the Division. They want me dead because I'm still loyal to the Division."

"Marcus, it's precisely because of your loyalty to the Division that Black Tusk exists to begin with. Think about it. I mean really think about this. The Division has failed in its mission to save what remains. Hell, the Division couldn't even do its job because our higher ups wouldn't properly allow it! My intel, which has never proven to be wrong, has suggested that these guys were up to no good from the start, before Green Poison even hit on Black Friday!"

"So what are you saying then Aaron? It's all just circumstance and shitty luck that we happen to be in the predicament that we find ourselves in? Or are you saying there's a bigger picture here? Because I honestly don't know what to believe anymore. The JTF says one thing, ISAC says another, and now you're telling me all this. Why did you even seek me out to begin with huh?"

"I sought you out because you're the man that single-handedly eliminated Joe Ferro, Larae Barrett, and Charles Bliss. You eliminated them without hesitation, and you did it because you knew just what kinds of problems that they were going to be stirring up. You knew that more people were going to die because of them, and you did the right thing. Most people would've cowered in fear, confronting people the likes of them. But you Marcus, you stepped up to the plate. You accepted the challenge. And because of that, I want you on my team. The winning team."

Agent Webb stood there, taking in everything that Keener had told him. But he only had one more question in mind.

"Alright, fine. You've convinced me. But I've got one question to ask you."

"You've but to ask it, Agent."

"What do we have to do to ensure that Ellis' plan doesn't succeed?"

Aaron Keener smiled. He had finally done it! He then answered, "I've set a plan in motion to handle that particular problem."

Agent Molly Henderson was recovering in a bunker outside of New York. Her wounds had been caused by a Cleaner that had decided at the last moment, as his flame thrower tank had been ruptured, that he'd throw said tank at Henderson. It exploded in front of her and left her with a debilitating injury that would be a set-back for years. Her right side of her face was burnt, the vision in her right eye gone now; there was no chance that it would fully heal.

She thought that working for Keener meant that she had been given the free pass up by the usually hostile factions of New York; unfortunately, she thought wrongly.

And to top off the list of woes that she had been adding up in her head, she had lost contact with the remnants of her cell, curious as to how her fellow Rogue Agents were doing. Suddenly the door to her room was opened, and in walked Aaron Keener himself.

"Hello Molly. We need to talk about some important factors in both of our lives right now. Starting off with everything you know about Black Tusk."

Agent Henderson remained quiet, then said, "I suppose it's the least I could do since you saved my life. What do you wanna know about them Aaron?"

Keener leaned against the door frame before answering, "I want to know what resources you would need to find and eliminate Bardon Schaeffer, along with the rest of the Black Tusk leadership."

"Is that to also include Andrew Ellis?"

"You mean our supposed President?"

"Hey, I didn't vote for him, nor did I ever like the asshole. Are you wanting him neutralized as well?"

"Yes. He's the key to everything. And as much as I would hate to admit it, we're going to need some help here. That's why I'm sending you and your Rogue cell to D.C. You're going to get ahold of this new Agent I've been hearing so much about. He and his team are the best trained Agents I've ever seen, and he's much like New York's very own Marcus Webb. We're going to need him in our upcoming war with the Black Tusk."

"Then once I recover, I'll get right to it. In the meantime though, I'm going to go back to sleep. Fair enough by you Keener?"

"I suppose that's fair enough by me Henderson. We'll talk more tomorrow. In the meantime, sweet dreams."

Aaron Keener walked into his little room that he had set aside for himself. He always knew that he had some greater purpose to serve in life. He just never knew that it would take a biological apocalyptic disease to show him that. Laying down on his bed, Keener pondered about what the next day may bring. However, his pondering was cut short by a quick knock on his door.

"Come in." The door opened, revealing Rogue Agent Vivian Conley. Keener sat up on his bed, focusing in on the 'manic pixie dream girl' as Dragov had called her. "Hello Aaron." She walked towards him as he replied with, "Hello Vivian." She stopped before his bed, kicking off her shoes and moving to get on the bed with him.

She positioned herself above him, then leaned down to kiss him.

Aaron still didn't know how he felt about the two of them together. He had already been married, twice. What could possibly make him believe that something like this would work between a crazy ideologist and a wanted terrorist? Hell if he knew. All he knew was that his loyalty was now to his fellow Rogue Agents, those who devoted themselves to the cause; but Vivian, she was a different scenario.

He didn't see her as the others did. She was fierce, loyal, devoted and absolutely willing to give her life for what she believed in. The other Rogues just saw her as Conley, Leader of the Cleaners. To him, she was just Vivian.

For the first time since the Black Friday terrorist attacks orchestrated by Gordon Amherst, Aaron had begun to feel something that was a remnant of how his world was before society came apart. Here was this woman, who had experienced just as much loss as he had, if not more, and came out stronger and more resilient because of it.

Maybe it was just an attraction thing. Maybe it was an unspoken pact between the two of them, to relieve each other of the tension and stress of the rest of the world by just getting lost in each other for a few hours. The world had fucked up so much for everyone. It only seemed ideal to enjoy what little indulgences there were to be enjoyed.

Hours later, as Keener slept with Conley, her head on his chest, he awoke not with a start, but at the sound of his companion snoring. He laughed inwardly to himself. Who'd have thought the terrifying Vivian Conley was a snorer?

Javier Kajika, Theo Parnell, and James Dragov all sat in the living room of an apartment about a block away from the bunker that Keener had taken over and renovated to his liking. Conley had left a few hours ago, and Keener had left shortly before her. However, the three of them had remained behind at this little room of theirs for one thing only: conversation.

In a busy world such as theirs, they hardly ever spoke with the other. 'Family cohesion' as Dragov had called it. In a sense, they all were family, given everything they had been through. Although most families weren't as fucked up as they all were.

Kajika had taken to reading a book he had found in the apartment, Dante's _Inferno_, while Dragov was talking to Parnell about the last thing he wanted to discuss – women. It's not that he didn't take an interest in them. Theo, though he would never admit it anywhere near Dragov, had the hots for his right hand woman Duchess. He just never pursued such desires because the hulking brute that was in front of him had practically claimed Duchess, and also for the simple fact that he was working on the Rogue network that was going to be a God-send. It was imperative that his focuses were elsewhere. After his job was done, then he could go after what he wanted.

Duchess in particular.

Parnell simply smiled, stating, "I know what I like and who I like Dragov. I wouldn't worry too much about it." Dragov huffed in annoyance, "What's that cryptic shit supposed to mean?" Across the room, Kajika piped up from his book, saying, "It means he's head over heels for somebody already." He had watched Parnell a few times. They may all be highly trained soldiers, but everyone knows that looking at the backside of a woman, particularly Duchess, is bound to attract the attention of others – in this case, Javier Kajika.

Dragov just sighed, tired of trying to pry any kind of information from his fellow Rogue Agents. There's just no getting through to some people, he reckoned. At least the Rikers would always listen up and joke around with him. These two were a bunch of hammers.

**I do hope you've all enjoyed the story so far. I would have posted this chapter sooner, but being in the Army and also working during the pandemic has vastly limited my writing time. I will try to get more chapters to you soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

Over the course of the next week, Agent Christopher Cage settled down into a routine, which is something he honestly didn't do enough. Not that it was a bad thing, not having a routine. Routines could get you killed, if somebody had watched your patterns and studied you long enough. However, that was not the case with Cage.

In the dead of night, Cage or Kelso would sneak to the other's room. Originally, they had thought that their one night fling was just that – a one night fling. But after the following day, and a brush with death on both of their parts, they both sat down and decided that it was better to stick through this whole ordeal together.

Whatever it took, they were going to do their best to stay alive for each other.

Cage's men had begun to take notice of certain changes in their fearless leader. It first started whenever they noticed him smiling one morning. Ferrer, never one to miss so much as a mouse breaking wind, thought at first that he had been hallucinating, or still dreaming. But soon Revots and Price also took note of their leader's odd behavior; Christopher Cage was never known to smile in the mornings.

What hinted at the cause of said smile was Cage's subtle reaction that all three men saw whenever Agent Kelso walked in and passed by Cage, playfully bumping shoulders with the man. Cage had taken quick note that he was being observed and turned to look at the three men of his who were looking at him. "What are y'all looking at? Do I have something in my hair?"

The group chuckled, with Price saying, "Nothing sir. We just find it funny that you're smiling on a Monday morning. Hell will freeze over next." They all laughed at that, as Hell had practically already been set loose upon the world. Then they stopped laughing, realizing that they were stuck in the Hell that was now their modern world.

Now it was a regular Monday morning; the smile was no longer existent, and there was work that needed to be done; in this case, more Hyenas, True Sons, or Outcasts that were going to breathe their last that particular day.

Agent Kelso had taken to checking in on control points and the other two settlements while she was outside of the Base of Operations. However, it was on one particular Sunday afternoon while she was flanking around a Hyena patrol that she suddenly had the urge to throw up. Using all of her will power and restraint, Kelso kept her bile from rising, trying not to vomit and thus give away her position.

Oh how she failed at that.

After only 30 seconds of restraint, Kelso couldn't contain it anymore, and threw up what she had had for breakfast that morning. One of the patrolling Hyenas said, "What the fuck was that? Somebody hurlin' or some shit?" They then began looking around, trying to discover the source of the noise. She then coughed up some more of her previous meal, and a Hyena spotted her instantly.

"Shit! It's a Division Agent! Kill her!" They all lifted their guns simultaneously towards Kelso's direction. She only had the D50 that was her go-to pistol, and she had her AK-M. She emptied her clip into three of the four Hyenas, and brought her gun around just in time to shoot the fourth, only to hear the click of an empty magazine. The Hyena came charging at her, shock baton raised, and was partially clipped by Kelso's rifle, which she had thrown at her assailant.

Relying on her pistol to save her now, Kelso drew out her D50, then blew three apple sized holes into the chest of the last Hyena patrol member. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was withholding, Kelso pushed herself back up onto her feet, only to end up nearly collapsing and having to take a knee so that she could throw up again. Well, so much for breakfast that morning.

When it was sunset and Alani Kelso had not yet returned, Christopher Cage had begun to worry. It was not like her to not be back before sundown. She was a very particular woman, and was rather punctual with her schedules, whenever they were made out. She was supposed to have been back hours ago.

"I'm heading out there," Cage informed Manny Ortega. "Slow down Agent, Kelso is more than capable of handling herself, I'm sure she'll be just fine." Cage shook his head in disagreement. "I know that Manny, but I know her, and she's always, and I mean always, back before sundown on a Sunday. Sunday nights are when she stops by the Campus settlement to read a story to that little girl who survived the attack on the Castle settlement. She's finished up by 8:30, then radios in to me to let me know she's on her way back." Cage let out a sigh.

"Manny, it's already 9:30. Let me go out looking for her."

The man finally relented. "Alright Agent. Go on after her. But don't let your emotions get in the way of things." Manny turned to walk away, but Cage grabbed his arm before he could move any further. "She's family to me Manny. Same as the boys on my team."

"Sure it's not more than that?" the comms director challenged, to which the Sheriff replied, "And if it is?" Cage then let go of his arm, then went down the hallway to the gun range.

On the wall was a variety of extravagant weapons, some clearly for show, others dressed quite literally to kill. Looking at them all, and deciding that he was going to be heading into some rather dangerous territory, Cage picked up the trophy rifle that had belonged to the crazy BTSU renegade commander, codenamed "Wyvern". The rifle with the word "Nemesis" and the BTSU emblem on the end of it was perfect for night missions. Cage knew that it was going to be a long night out on the town.

He was just wanting to make sure that he had the means to make it back alive with Kelso.

Annnnd that's Chapter 3 everybody! Look forward to our next chapter, as we'll be returning to NYC!


	4. Chapter 4

Marcus needed time to think. He did, after all, just agree to help the most wanted man in the United States, maybe even the world. So what did he do?

He went and decided that he needed to blow off a little steam. He needed to let out all of his frustrations, and unfortunately, there was only one way to do so; violence.

Acting completely and totally calm, he returned back to Haven, and asked for the next big assignment that they had. Rhodes said that there were reports of an enemy occupied 100-floor skyscraper, and Benitez confirmed it with the surveillance he was able to obtain via drone footage. "Listen, Webb. There's no telling how many bad guys are in there, I wouldn't go in alone," Benitez said. "I know you wouldn't Roy. That's why I am. Besides, a 100 story skyscraper, that's still got electricity? If I were you guys, I would have cleaned it out sooner. That could be a great fall-back point if anything happens here in Haven."

And with that, Marcus Webb grabbed his drum-barreled grenade launcher, along with the rest of his gear, and left to go clear what he dubbed 'The Summit'.

* * *

'The Summit', as it was dubbed, was a building that was originally designed to be the American office for the Fenris Group Corporation, which had recently been bought out by Natalia Sokolova, CEO of a massive military contractor that had ties in the Middle East; unbeknownst to most though, the company also had deep roots with Bardon Schaeffer, leader of the Black Tusk Specialist Unit. It would just so happen to be Marcus Webb's luck that the entire damn building was full of nothing but Black Tusk soldiers.

Yes, perhaps Benitez and Rhodes were right about needing backup; then again, he had taken on half of the forces that resided within the Dark Zone whenever his team had been killed on the night of the blizzard. It was a shame what happened to his team. They had left that evening, ready to move in and take out any opposition; the antivirals were the priority. One of them, Anderson, died of sepsis after having crashed into a wooden pallet, taking a nail puncture to his arm. Marcus stayed with him as he expired.

Then the tech guy of their group, Burton, was slain in cold blood by one of the other Agents that happened to survive the crash. Marcus didn't know Lenny that well, but he was a damn good man. Though he never admitted it to anyone, Marcus thoroughly enjoyed killing the Rogue Agent; the snap that the man's arm made as Webb took a pipe wrench to it, the vibrations he felt through the pipe wrench as he brought it down again and again. What satisfied him the most though, what really brought a sickening smile to his face, was the feeling as he snapped that coward's neck. Before the Black Friday outbreak, Webb tried to avoid fights if at all possible, and he wasn't one to believe in violent solutions.

After he watched one of his friends get gunned down by someone he believed to be a trusted ally, he knew that peace could never be an option with an enemy that broke the most solemn vow that someone can take. However, even something as heart-wrenching as that didn't break Marcus Webb. What broke him was witnessing Hilton's death at the hands of a Hunter. Webb had been downed, yet Hilton, the last surviving member of his team, came to the rescue. She was an extraordinarily loyal friend, and his confidant. She put the wrapping on his side wound, which was bleeding profoundly. To this day, he has not forgiven himself for her death and not having seen the remaining Hunter.

Poor Hilton didn't stand a chance. The Hunter came up from behind and slit her throat. In a moment of blind rage, Webb lurched forward and was clipped by the Hunter's axe; however, the hit from the large brute did nothing to slow down the enraged Agent. Having lurched forward, Marcus tackled his enemy, and looking into the eyes behind the ballistic mask, plunged his fingers into the mask, gouging out his enemy's eyes. He then proceeded to rip off the man's mask and beat him to a pulp before he finally took the axe which had cut across his face earlier and brought it down on the Hunter's carotid's artery. As the extraction helicopter arrived, he grabbed ahold of Hilton's now lifeless body and brought it with him on the helicopter; he had to leave his other two friends behind, he wasn't going to leave his last friend out here in the cold.

As the helicopter lifted off from the extraction zone, Webb held Hilton close to him, sobbing and saying, "I'm so sorry," over and over again.

* * *

That was 6 months ago. Ever since that night, Webb had a thirst for violence, a thirst for vengeance, and as dark as it was to say, killing those who meant harm to that which he cared about was the only way to satisfy that thirst. Fully outfitted and ready to go, Webb moved towards the elevator door and hit the up button. Stepping into the elevator, Webb got that ominous ping on his watch from ISAC.

"Rogue Agents detected."

Marcus Webb smiled; he should have known that there were going to be some Rogue Agents working alongside Black Tusk. That's fine, he thought. They'll all die just the same; only difference is that their corpses will have more bullets in them than the Black Tusk guys will. "Going up," he said to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., Agent Christopher Cage was on the move throughout the night as Kelso had not come back to the White House. He needed to know that she was ok, he needed to see that she was not in any way harmed. He knew that Agents weren't allowed to have any personal feelings come between him and his oath as an Agent of the Division, yet Kelso and his team were the exception to that rule. He wanted them to be safe. He wanted her to be safe.

While he was partially regretting having brought the Nemesis rifle with him, as it is a heavy weapon, yet he was grateful for its lethal results. No enemies detected him, and whenever they saw one of their comrades fall, they had nowhere to turn to as a sign of the danger. All shots made were either center mass or headshots. Cage didn't want any of these assholes to end up not being dead and then try to take a cheap shot at him. He wanted to be certain that the threats were eliminated.

He had been on the move for the last hour and a half without any lead on Kelso until his watch picked up a signal, and the signal he picked up sent shivers down his spine.

"SHD Distress Signal, detected." The last time he had heard that tone, it was whenever he had found Agent Edward's body strung up after he had been tortured and killed by a Hunter. With that prior knowledge and resolve, his pace quickened and he decided that the quiet and steady approach was no longer an option. Slinging the Nemesis rifle, Cage brought out his Kard-45, and had ISAC highlight the most expedient route to the source of the signal. He had to find Alani!

* * *

Back in New York City, Marcus Webb was cutting down his enemies; either with bullets or with the Hunter's axe that he had kept from one of the ones he'd killed. Honestly, it didn't matter how they were killed so long as they all ended up dead. If what Keener had said was true about Black Tusk and President Ellis, then he would really be doing a favor and earning their trust. And if what he said was a lie, then he would definitely be helping out everyone at Haven. So to him, it was a win-win.

Webb had lost track of time, and by the time that he got to floor 30, the sun was beginning to come up. He decided that he could afford a couple hours of rest. Ironically enough, it was as if the building knew that he was going to be coming, because there was a rather comfy looking chair at the end of the hallway next to the elevator. Setting his rifle down next to him and plopping down into the chair, Webb was asleep within minutes. He had no idea that he was being watched.

* * *

Theo Parnell, Javier Kajika, and Aaron Keener were all watching footage from 'The Summit', and more importantly, were discussing how Webb could best be of use to them all. Kajika was impressed with the man's bloodlust, Parnell was critical of Webb, saying that they already had an attack dog more or less; but it was Keener who was thoroughly interested. These guys that they were killing were the absolute elite of the BTSU. Webb was cutting them down like a farmer would his crops. While their current footage showed the topic of discussion snoring away in a lounging chair, covered in the blood of his enemies, the previous 29 floors showed nothing but excessive brutality, more than was even necessary. Keener knew that he was trying to send a message to the BTSU.

He just hadn't figured out what that message was yet. Was he telling them to prepare themselves for the eventual slaughter, or was he simply saying, "Look at me, I'm a major pain in your asses!" Keener dwelt on the thought a bit longer until it finally hit him. When it did, he slumped back into his chair, which drew the attention of both of his fellow Rogue Agents. "What's wrong boss?" asked Parnell.

"I finally figured it out," Keener said. "He's not sending a message. He doesn't have any kind of bone to pick with Black Tusk. He's just angry and homicidal, and he's using everyone in that building who is an enemy as a punching bag. I guess you were right Kajika. The man has quite the bloodlust indeed."

Kajika only huffed in response. It seemed that Keener was so dead-set on recruiting the one Agent who had done more damage to his operation than anyone else. There were plenty of other promising recruits, yet he seemed so fixated on this one. Oh, how it annoyed him! He lit up a cigar and puffed on it slowly, continuing to analyze his possible new teammate.

Parnell was trying to think of what possible gadget to give this guy if he happens to prove useful. He already provided the thermite sticky bomb and sticky bomb launchers to Conley and Dragov respectfully. The shock trap was a one-of-a-kind device given to Kajika as it best suited him. And the decoy device? His crown jewel. As for him, based off of his tactics, the best thing for this Webb guy would be a shrapnel trap. Anything that can make someone bleed more.

The Rogues were eager to see how their newest member would perform whenever he discovered that his most hated enemy waited for him at the top.

* * *

**_I know, I know, another cliffhanger right after you just got some more good stuff! It sucks, I know, but I assure you it'll be nothing but great from here on out!_**


	5. Chapter 5

Webb awoke with a start. He immediately began trying to piece together where it is that he was at. Memories flooded back in of him cutting down Black Tusk and Rogue Agents alike. He was on the 30th floor of 'the Summit'. He had killed many men on that first night. Light was beginning to shine through a window, indicating that it was morning. He was aching from the strenuous activity, but ignored it altogether. He could actually rest whenever he was done figuring out his dilemma. Rising from the chair he was in, he grabbed his RPK, checked and made sure his revolver was loaded, and made sure that the unique SMG he dubbed "Lady Death" was ready to be used as well. Smiling grimly, he said to himself, "Onward and upward."

* * *

Bardon Schaeffer was a rather sophisticated individual. He had enough shit on his plate as was. Everything had been goin down hill for him ever since the Division took back Washington International Airport. His boss kept on giving him shit to work with, and no matter what he threw at the Division, they would chew it up and spit it out at him, unfazed. His operation failed to eliminate Keener on Coney Island, and they failed to secure the biofusion reactor from the Pentagon's DARPA Labs. Sure, he had President Ellis, but nothing was playing out well there. The old bastard was rather grumpy and always bitching about something.

His most recent achievement, however, was getting a foothold in New York City at an abandoned 100-story skyscraper. He had stationed almost a battalion's worth of Black Tusk soldiers in that building, along with the ultimate killers. These men were handpicked and trained by him and a few Rogue Agents. He called them "Hunters". They weren't invincible, as all of his Washington Hunters, save for one, were killed, and someone was going after the Hunters he had in New York City. He had an idea of who, but he wasn't going to jump on it until he got hardcore evidence that it was who he thought it was.

He was a calm man, but he was a man like any other; he had desires, wants, things that he wished to see fulfilled. And he wanted nothing more than to see the Division fall. He desired to see all of those Agents dead, whether they're Rogue or not. They stood in the way of his mission, and if he wanted to usher in that new world order alongside his boss and President Ellis, he was going to have to do better than what he was doing right now. His satellite phone began to ring; he checked to see who was calling him and sighed once he saw who it was.

"Mr. President. Yes sir, I understand why it-" he pinched his nose as the aggravated old man continued rambling on about how he was tired of waiting and wanted him to complete the assignment given to him by the boss. "Mr. President, I get why you're upset. Trust me, your calls of sorrow have not gone unheard. But I'm trying to do a job here. A job that you and my superior gave to me and asked me to do by any means necessary. Now you and I both know that I'm a busy man, and if you want me to get everything done, I need to do it undistracted and with unlimited resources; no offense sir, but you've been lacking in giving me both of those lately. The sooner we can cooperate more, the better."

He didn't give the president a chance to respond, ending the call after his last sentence. However, not even two seconds after hanging up the phone, it rang again; now he was pissed. Answering the phone, he spoke, "This had better be good." He was surprised at the voice that responded to him though.

"Schaeffer," Faye Lau spoke, "we need to have a serious conversation. I think we can help each other out."

* * *

Alani Kelso hadn't been as fortunate as she had originally thought. She threw up, yes, but what she didn't notice was the shadow that was trailing her after her run-in with the Hyenas. Not long after regaining her composure, the shadowy figure had come up from behind and wacked her across the back of her head, knocking her out. When she came to, she realized just exactly whose company she was in. And for the first time in a long time, Alani Kelso was afraid.

Standing before her was a man clad in black and yellow armor, wearing a black ballistic mask with yellow stripes on it. Standing before her was Stinger, the Hunter who had almost killed Agent Cage. And Kelso was at his mercy. Stepping forward a little, Kelso tried to move but realized she couldn't. She was restrained, her hands tied tightly to the chair she was in, her legs also tied to the chair legs. She wasn't going to be able to get out of this one.

Stinger, although nobody would have known it, was smiling under his mask. He had been watching Agent Kelso and Agent Cage over the last couple of weeks. It didn't take much to notice that there was a strong connection between the two of them. He was going to draw out Cage and finish what he started. Seeing as how he was going to kill both Kelso and Cage though, he decided that he didn't need to hide his identity anymore. He took off the ballistic mask he was wearing and set it on the table. The infamous man behind the mask was none other than Ryan Chang, callsign "Mercury". A fellow Division Agent had been hunting down his brethren.

"Goddamn you Ryan!" Kelso spat out. "You're a fucking traitor! A traitor that's gonna pay for what he's done! I hope they-" she was cut off by Chang's backhand. He then turned around towards the table with all of his 'tools' laid out before him. While he was looking away though, Kelso hit the ISAC brick on her right shoulder twice with her chin, which sent out an emergency ping. Chang, of course, knew that she would do that, because he was counting on Cage showing up. All he had to do was wait now.

But first, he was going to ask some questions to pass the time. Picking up a scalpel, he moved towards Kelso. "If you want a quick death, you'll start talking," he said. Kelso said nothing, only glaring at him. "Fine then," Chang said. He then proceeded to drive the scalpel forward into Kelso's left shoulder, causing her to scream out in agony. "I know this hurts," Chang spoke slowly, accentuating each word with a twist of the scalpel. "Speak now, or damn yourself to suffering for the rest of your life, which, by the way, won't be much longer. So why prolong the inevitable?" He stabbed her again, this time in her left hand, causing her to scream even louder.

* * *

"SHD Agent nearby. Agent requires immediate medical assistance," ISAC said as Cage continued to run towards where she was. He had finally tracked her down, locating her in an abandoned parking garage complex. Running as fast as his legs could take him, Cage kicked in its doors, and burst in; no surprise, he wasn't the only one there. Black Tusk soldiers were in the room with a warhound, and all took notice of Cage's loud door-knock. Without hesitation, Cage gunned down the first soldier closest to him, tackled another whose throat he then slit, then activated his jammer pulse, which then disabled the warhound, the bomber drone the specialist had activated, and all of their HUDs. But having had such experience with Hunters, he knew how to operate without relying on your gadgets.

He moved quickly, knifed two more Black Tusk soldiers, then struck the warhound with a semtex grenade, destroying it. He then rushed up the staircase, getting closer to Kelso's signal. He stopped in his tracks when he heard a blood-curdling scream that could've belonged only to her. Making sure his pistol was completely loaded, he rushed further onwards towards where she was being kept.

* * *

"Shhh, we can't have you causing all kinds of noise can we? Somebody might find us," Chang said maliciously. Kelso had cuts and stab wounds all up and down her arms, shoulder, legs and feet. She was in a great amount of pain. She couldn't focus on anything else. That was until she saw movement out of the corner of her right eye. A little blinking pattern, morse code. _It couldn't be. _It was Cage! He was here to save her!

She began to laugh, which caught Chang off-guard, but he grinned nonetheless. "Mind telling me what's so funny? I could really go for a laugh right now." Kelso spat on the ground, then looked up and said, "Christopher Cage is behind you." The grin faded and Chang spun around, but Cage was faster. Chang was punched in the nose, which broke and stunned him all at once. Cage then whipped out his pistol and shot him twice in the femoral arteries in both of his legs. Collapsing to the ground, Chang looked up, already feeling the effects of blood loss. How could he have been so stupid to let his guard down like that? He almost had Kelso broken! He even managed to draw Cage here!

"Wait- wait Cage, let me explain," he said. But Christopher Cage was hearing none of it. He took out his knife again and shoved it up through the man's chin and up into his brain, twisting the knife and breaking the blade off into the deceased Hunter's skull. There was no surviving that. He immediately dropped the remnants of the knife and went to Kelso's side, to check how she was. "ISAC, run a medical diagnostic and contact Manny Ortega at the White House. Tell him it's a flash priority and that I have located Kelso, she's lost a lot of blood!"

"Sending message to the White House. Medical diagnostic underway. Immense trauma and blood loss detected. Pulse rate, intensified. Second pulse rate, detected."

_Whoa. Second pulse rate detected? Why would ISAC pick up on a second pulse rate? It's not like she's preg-_

_Oh. OH NO._

"Agent Cage, this is Manny, do you rea-" he was cut off by the panicked voice of Cage saying, "MANNY I NEED THAT HELICOPTER HERE ASAP! DO YOU HEAR ME?! DO IT NOW!"

* * *

While Christopher Cage was dealing with his own problems in Washington, D.C., Marcus Webb was in the middle of a firefight unlike any other. What kind of Black Tusk asshole would decide to put a stinger hive onto a heavy gunner?! Seriously, the world was bad enough, that was just complete overkill though. Finding his sticky launcher, he equipped the incendiary sticky and launched it at the big fucker. All he could hear next was the pained cries of the soldier as it burnt through his armor and skin, eventually burning through to his heart. The man fell lifeless to the floor, along with his minigun.

Webb had been moving nonstop since he woke up- how many hours ago had it been? He looked out a nearby window and noted that the sun was beginning to set. Realizing that the heavy gunner had been the last enemy on the floor, he realized he was on the 99th floor. He had sped through 69 floors in just a matter of 8 hours. Since his slaughter had begun, he had killed no telling how many hundreds of Black Tusk soldiers, and about twelve Rogue Agents. Just one more floor to clear.

But first, he decided, he needed to eat real quick.

* * *

Keener was watching intently as Webb had sped through the largest part of the building, cutting down all who stood in his path. Unbelievable. No wonder the Division had so many completed missions; it was all due to him. "I thought that he was originally just another useless brainwashed puppet. But this guy is the engine that makes New York's Division branch run." As loathe as he was to admit it, he was impressed by Webb's skills.

By this point, Kajika, Conley, Parnell and Dragov had all joined him in watching their newest recruit. Conley thought he was a hothead, which was a real case of the pot calling the kettle black. Kajika said nothing except critiques on how he took down his opponents in close combat. Parnell thought the guy was scarier than Kajika. And Dragov thought that Webb would have done just fine with the Rikers had it not been for killing Larae Barrett.

The true test was about to begin though. Some of Marcus Webb's favorite people were behind the door of floor 100. Only time could tell.

* * *

_**I hope you guys enjoyed this action packed chapter! Be sure to tune in next chapter, as we uncover how Kelso and Cage get along with the news that they'll soon be parents, the reaction of Schaeffer as he learns of what went down at the Summit, and what Keener decides to do with Webb. See ya!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Bardon Schaeffer was having about ready to off himself out of frustration and impatience. The last big foothold in New York City, the 100-story skyscraper referred to as 'the Summit', was completely wiped out in 13 hours. His absolute best were left with protecting that building, not to let it go no matter what the cost, and now half of a battalion's worth of Black Tusk soldiers had been killed, along with the killer elite, the Hunters. Each of those bastards had killed about 6 Agents a piece. Yet for some reason unknown, whenever he was watching the security footage of the building, one man, ONE FUCKING MAN, had managed to kill them all. How he managed to do that, he had no earthly idea. He wanted to know just exactly who this Agent Marcus Webb was, and he was going to tear him apart limb by limb.

However, whatever he was going to do would have to wait. An unidentified helicopter had moved in towards the tower, and the signal of the security footage was becoming scrambled. He decided that enough was enough for one day and went to go grab a whole damn bottle of liquor.

* * *

Marcus sat against the barrier on the balcony of the 100th floor. He couldn't believe it. There were 5 Hunters up here at the top. There were 5 killers who had plagued his organization and caused an immense amount of stress, heartache, and suffering. And now all 5 of those Hunters were all dead on the ground. One had bullet holes riddled all up and down his body. Another had its own axe lodged into its carotid. One's head was missing due to a point-blank shotgun blast. The last two had died in a brutal hand-to-hand combat showdown against Webb.

While he was an effective Killer, Webb did not come out of the fight unscathed. His left arm was broken. He had to staunch the blood from spilling out from a bullet wound in his left shoulder and right foot. But perhaps the worst wound he had sustained was the knife that was still stuck in his right hip. Thankfully, it had missed anything vital, but he did not remove it out of fear of causing massive blood loss and dying from exsanguination. It didn't seem to do any good though; he felt himself starting to fade in and out of consciousness. Right before he blacked out, he could hear a helicopter fast approaching, along with being blinded by the spotlight shining on him.

* * *

"This distress call goes out to any Division Agents in the area that can hear me! My name is Zach Young, and I have been seeking refuge at United Ironworks. There is a massive True Sons presence here, and they're working on something really nasty. Please, if anyone can read this, please, I beg you, come and stop them before they do something awful!"

* * *

Agent Cody Revots was on the top of an apartment building in DZ West whenever he heard the call come over the radio. It was a young and frightened voice. But the message that the voice carried with it bode every sense of seriousness imaginable.

_"This distress call goes out to any Division Agents in the area that can hear me! My name is Zach Young, and I have been seeking refuge at United Ironworks. There is a massive True Sons presence here, and they're working on something really nasty. Please, if anyone can read this, please, I beg you, come and stop them before they do something awful!" _

Revots had been relaxing in a lawn chair on top of the building, but at that moment, he shot up out of his chair and went into action. Pressing his watch, he responded to the call. "This is Agent Cody Revots, I hear you loud and clear Zach Young. I'm gonna need more credible information than just your say-so however. Tell me everything."

_"This whole operation is being ran by a colonel. Her name is Morozova. She has some underlings that do a lot of her dirty work, but she's a ice-cold-water-in-your-veins-bitch. She killed all of my fellow workers and spared me so that I could show them all how everything works. After you killed Ridgeway she rounded up the remaining True Sons and moved in here. Look, I don't know how secure this line is, but you need to know something. They're working on a massive weapon. It's gonna rain hell on D.C. if they get it operational. The railroads are the key-"_ suddenly the line was cut.

"Zach? Zach, do you read me? Zach! Damn it!" Revots swore. He could forget about relaxing today. He had to get back to the White House right now. If what his imagination was putting together by what Young had told him, he had an idea of what the True Sons had been working on, and it needed to be stopped ASAP. As he was on the move though, his smartwatch let out a warning ping, with ISAC saying, "Rogue Agent detected nearby."

* * *

Cage was carrying Kelso bridal style as he ran towards the helicopter. She was fading and he knew it. He wasn't going to let that happen though. Not on his watch. "Please, stay with me Alani, I'm right here; you're ok now, nothing's going to happen to you."

Kelso was fading in and out of consciousness. She knew she was safe, but she hurt all over and just wanted the pain to stop. She wanted to go to sleep, to crawl into a warm bed with Christopher Cage and just fall asleep in his arms. She wanted to rest but for some reason Christopher kept her awake. He wasn't letting her go to sleep and it was so irritating, but she couldn't do anything about it. "Christopher I'm tired. Just let me sleep," was all she muttered in response.

"Get us back to the White House, NOW!" Cage shouted at the pilot.

* * *

"Termite! I got a live one! He needs immediate help!" Termite was irritated as Keener came barging in, but her irritation faded as she realized who was being brought in. "Is that...?"

Before her on a stretcher being carried by Parnell and Dragov was the bane of all Rogue Agents' existence.

Marcus Webb.


	7. Chapter 7

"Why the fuck is he here Keener?! Don't you know what this guy has done?" Termite shouted. Keener wasn't hearing any of it though. They had a chance with this guy and he wasn't going to let some irritable-no-shits-given Rogue Agent/Nurse ruin that chance. "I know damned well who he is and what he's done but we've got one chance with him. Marcus Webb can turn the tide for our cause," he said.

"You mean your cause Keener."

"Listen, you said you wanted in on eradicating the weak right? Does this guy look like a weakling to you? Webb is the guy that can turn the tide for us. I need you to see to his wounds, _now._" Keener's voice took on a dangerous tone, one that practically yells, "_Do Not Fuck With Me."_ Termite decided to not piss off her boss and do as he says. "Alright, clear the room, and set him on that table there. And Keener, I'm not gonna be the one to tell Hornet. That's all you."

"I'll handle Carter. You just see to it that he's alright and that nothing happens to him, got me?" Keener asked. She nodded.

"Good. Theo, stick with Termite for a little bit and get her what she needs. Dragov, come with me." The big man followed his boss and moved out the door with him. They moved into the abandoned lobby of the hotel they were temporarily occupying. Just as they entered the lobby, a hooded figure with the red ring that all Rogues bear came into the building through the front door. The hooded figure removed the hood, revealing himself to be none other than Carter Leroux, aka Hornet. "It's good to see you Aaron, but why did you call me here? You know I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile right now."

"Carter, I appreciate you coming, but you need to know something important. You remember me telling you about the big plan I had right? How you would carry it out in my stead and all that?" Keener asked; Leroux nodded. "Where are you going with this Aaron?" Keener sighed and finally just bluntly said, "We've got Marcus Webb in the other room. He just cleared that Black Tusk occupied skyscraper single-handedly, and took on 5 Hunters as well. That's why he's here, actually. We contacted him the day before yesterday and he agreed to help us. Look, I know you two-" Keener didn't get to finish as Leroux tried to rush past him towards the room.

That's why Dragov had been asked to join Keener earlier.

"Not so fast buddy," was all the big guy said as he grabbed ahold of Leroux who was trying to break free so he could kill Webb. "Seriously Keener?! You bring the guy here that almost killed me, and expect me to just go along with it all? What the fuck is wrong with you man?" he shouted. Keener walked up to his restrained friend and backhanded him. That stunned Leroux, whose attention was now entirely on Keener.

"I brought him here because of what he can do for us, for our plan. He's agreed to help us with our Black Tusk situation, which he just did. He just took a major problem off the board. Look at me man. Have I ever led you astray, in all the time that we've been working together? Have I?"

Leroux looked away, ashamed of his outburst against his only living friend. "No, you haven't," he said quietly.

"I'm asking you to trust me again on this, alright? I know what I'm doing here, and I'm asking for you to work with me on this. It won't be easy, but I know we can succeed. Alright?"

Leroux nodded. Dragov let the man go and Leroux got his act together. He didn't like what was going on, but he trusted Aaron Keener with his life; Marcus Webb, on the other hand, he didn't trust. "I know how much you hate the guy, believe me, I do. If it's any consolation to you, I'll let you be the one to kill him if he steps out of line. Sound good?" Ok, perhaps Leroux could get behind his friend's logic.

* * *

Agent Cody Revots was running for his dear life. It turned out, ISAC had not only identified one Rogue Agent, he had identified _four_. He was being pursued by all four of them, who kept trying to take shots at him as he continued to run. He was less than 100 meters away from Checkpoint Charlie; all he had to do was make it within 50 meters of the checkpoint and the SHD turrets would take care of the rest from there. However, right as he crossed the 50 meter mark and the turrets were activated, a shot pierced him through his shin, immediately causing him to stagger and then fall to the ground.

A massive EMP pulse surged throughout the area, causing the turrets to be shutdown. Cody felt a cold sweat break out across his back and chills shoot up his spine. A Rogue agent dressed in black wearing skull mask approached him. "And just where oh where do you think you're going?" the man asked the downed Agent. He kicked him in the side, causing Cody to yelp; the man had to be wearing steel-toed boots because one of his ribs just cracked. "Am I gonna need to beat it out of you Agent?" he asked cruelly. His fellow Rogues laughed maliciously.

"You won't get the chance to," another voice said coldly. Immediately a spraying of bullets ripped through the leader of the Rogue Squad and one of his subordinates; they were both dead before they hit the ground. The third Rogue Agent swung his rifle up and popped off a shot, but it did him no good, as the shot went wild, followed by a pistol shot that hit the weapon he was holding; standing before him was a very pissed off, RPK-wielding Agent Jared Price, who had received Revots' distress call. With him was Agent James Ferrer, who had his Maxim 9 drawn and smoking; he had been the one to disarm the would-be assailant. The fourth Rogue Agent had attempted to make a run for it, but Ferrer had already thought ahead for that case.

The sniper turret he had set up just moments before surprising the Rogues gunned down the fleeing enemy. He, too, was dead before he hit the ground. The remaining Rogue, who was disarmed, held his hands above him in surrender. While Ferrer and Price slightly lowered their weapons, Revots, still downed, whipped out his double-barreled sawed-off shotgun and fired both barrels into the Rogue's chest. This action both startled and disturbed his fellow SHD Agents; they didn't kill people who surrendered, even if it was a Rogue Agent. They were usually taken into custody for questioning.

Revots caught the look his friends were giving him and explained, "He didn't hesitate in wanting to kill me, so why should I show him any courtesy? Besides, he would've just tried to kill us all as we escorted him back to the Base of Operations. Now will you two knuckleheads pick me up? That Rogue got me in the shin." Upon mention of taking a hit to the shin, both Ferrer and Price let out a sharp, "Ooof," as if that was all that needed saying. The two men picked up their friend and brought him back through the checkpoint. Outside the checkpoint was a Humvee which Ferrer had driven there. Placing Revots in the backseat, Ferrer and Price hopped in and drove back towards the White House.

* * *

The helicopter hadn't even touched down onto the landing pad yet whenever Christopher Cage, carrying Alani Kelso in his arms, hopped off and onto the platform, rushing down the staircase to the medical team on standby. There were six doctors there to assist, who helped lower the unconscious Agent onto the gurney they had brought along with themselves. Rushing back to the medical room, Cage wasn't allowed to venture back any further, being held back by guards outside of the operating room. "Alani, I'm right here, I'm not leaving you!" he shouted hoarsely, visibly torn and distressed. As the doctors began operating on Kelso, Manny Ortega approached Agent Cage, and while he was going to reprimand Cage for his reckless behavior, he stopped once he saw the tears that had welled up in Cage's eyes.

In his entire time here at the White House, in all of those 4 months, he had not seen the man visibly distraught, let alone shed a tear. Now, he was seeing both of those. "Agent, she's in good hands, don't worry about it alright?" he said. Cage just looked at a spot on the wall in front of him, only nodding his head in response so that Manny would leave him be with his thoughts and concerns. It was going to be a very rough next several hours. About an hour later, it got worse, as Ferrer, Revots, and Price pulled up in a Humvee. Revots had been injured, and Price and Ferrer were carrying him in on a stretcher. He had what looked like a massive bullet wound through his left shin.

"Boss, where've you been? Didn't you get our calls?" Ferrer asked his squad leader. Cage responded with, "I've been out all night trying to find Agent Kelso, and she was nowhere near to be found. It's a very long story."

"Ok, sure, we'll talk about it later. For now, we've got bigger fish to fry," Ferrer spoke, nodding down to their friend on the stretcher, who was now being put on a cot by a pair of medics. "Revots, you mind telling me how it is that you got that wound? What happened to you?" asked Cage.

"It's not good man, it's not good at all. I was in DZ West when I got a message from a guy claiming that the True Sons had taken over the United Ironworks facility, saying they were working on something massive and terrifying. Something about some Colonel Morozova running the whole operation. I was about to ask for more details whenever ISAC pinged his warning that Rogue Agents were nearby. I ran, they pursued, and the rest is history. Oh, and the informant from United Ironworks said his name was Zach Young. That's all that I got man." Cage was disturbed by the news he was hearing. It sounded like the Division might have to conduct another raid.

Of all the times that bad news would be delivered, it would just so happen to be the Sheriff's luck to hear about such a thing; if what was reported was true, then they were all in grave danger.

"Agent Cage," a voice called out. Christopher looked over to see a paramedic coming over. "Agent Cage," the paramedic said, "Agent Kelso will be alright. We've got her sedated. Also, we need to discuss something with you." Cage had an inkling of an idea as to what this was about, but his teammates seemed very confused. "Alright, I'll be right there," was all he said in response. Getting up from his seat, he moved to go into the clinic.

* * *

Schaeffer had an incoming call. "Sir, it's the insider." He nodded for them to go ahead and patch the call through.

"Schaeffer? Are you there?" came a female voice.

"I'm here. The line is secure. What seems to be the problem Lau?"

"It would appear that Marcus Webb, the Agent that I work with, has been captured by Rogues. Of course, this was after he slaughtered half a battalion's worth of Black Tusk operatives."

He was surprised that it was Rogue Agents who had captured Webb, but he didn't let Lau know that. "That's old news. You got anything else for me?"

"I did some snooping around. This wasn't just circumstance. Webb and Keener had a meeting that I tracked down via Echo. They're working together."

Of course they were. It all made sense now as to why Webb had done as he did. He was working for Keener, and Keener had ordered him to clear out that skyscraper as a test of the man's loyalty; how could he have not seen that. Of course, the only issue was, Webb's Division gear didn't have the red ring that most Rogue Agents carry. His was still the same orange as a loyal Division Agent. Perhaps he was trying to maintain cover. It didn't matter though; Rogue or not, every Division Agent who didn't align themselves with the Black Tusk was an enemy of the United States in his eyes.

"I'll make a deal with you Lau. If you get me Webb, then I'll kill Paul Rhodes and Roy Benitez for you. I know how much of a thorn the former is in your side. As for Benitez, consider him a bonus." Faye went silent on her end, and momentarily Schaeffer thought that the call had disconnected, but then he heard her say, "Deal." The line clicked, now signaling that the call had been disconnected.

* * *

An entire day had passed by since Agent Cage returned with Agent Kelso, and he sat by her next to her hospital bed. She was worn down and extraordinarily weak due to the amount of blood she had lost. That in itself was enough to drain anybody of their energy. Add in some psychological factors and she was ready to hibernate until next winter had passed. She just needed to rest was all. Cage knew that she would be fine. The doctor, along with Manny Ortega, had a rather interesting conversation after she had been cleared as fine from the procedure.

"Alright Agent Cage, be completely honest with me, no more bullshit this time around. How long have you two been seeing each other?" Manny had asked him. Cage, knowing that he couldn't hide the truth forever, relented finally. "We've been together ever since Operation: Dark Hours," he admitted. The comms director sighed, shaking his head. "And now I suppose you know why it is that I'm having this conversation with you," Manny said. Cage nodded, knowing full well where exactly this was going.

"You say that you two have been seeing each other since Operation: Dark Hours. That was close to two months ago. Did you know she was two months pregnant?" the doctor asked. Cage replied, "I didn't know she was pregnant until I found her the night before. I asked ISAC to run a medical diagnostic on her and ISAC said it detected two pulses. I didn't know what to make of it at first, but whenever it finally registered with me just exactly what was going on, that's when I went into panic mode and practically yelled for you to send the extraction chopper. Look, I know that this is a major concern and it also means that both myself and her are in a shitload of trouble, but we've got bigger fish to fry."

"Agent, I don't exactly see how it is that something could possibly be more important than the matter we're discussing right now. You're not supposed to shack up with someone while you're activated, especially a fellow Division Agent. Do you realize-" he was cut off by Cage, "Manny, I realize we're in over our heads here, and I promise I'm not trying to divert the attention from me, but seriously, this whole thing between me and Kelso can wait. As I said, we've got bigger fish to fry."

"Alright Agent, what could it possibly be now?" Manny asked impatiently. Cage calmly replied, "We have reason to believe that the True Sons are mounting up for a massive assault on us. Retribution for us killing Ridgeway and taking back the Capital. Revots was in DZ West the night I brought in Kelso, and he received a transmission from a guy named Zach Young, located at United Ironworks. According to Young, the True Sons are working on some kind of weapon. Revots said that Young described it as 'terrifying and something worth looking into'. I had Ferrer send in a small group of recon drones after he told me. They should be getting back sometime tomorrow."

And now tomorrow was here, and he was sitting in a bedside chair next to a resting Kelso. However, the peace and quiet didn't last much longer. Ferrer came rushing in, and spoke in a semi-loud voice, "We need you in the situation room. It's urgent." Cage got up then, albeit reluctantly, and followed his friend to the situation room. There, he found Agent Price, Agent Revots, who had a wrapping on his injured leg, Agent Ryder, Agent Ryan, Agent Meyers, Agent Boudreau, Agent Yaremko, and the most recent arrival to D.C., Agent Fisher. This many Agents in one room could only mean one thing; they had found an objective worth conducting a raid on.

"Agent Cage, Agent Ferrer, so glad you could join us," said Ryder. He was young, couldn't have been any more than 25 years old. "I'm told that you and your guys are the ones who caught wind of this whole ordeal."

"Yes, that's correct," said Ferrer. "We dispatched recon drones to the site shortly after we received the report that there was a True Sons presence. Sure enough, the report was credible. These guys are planning something big." Ferrer motioned to the screen, clicking on the remote in his hand to show the footage that had been taken. Everyone in the room let out sighs, groans, and a couple of gasps at what was being shown in the video.

A massive train, decked out in armor and carrying the-mother-of-all-guns on top of it, was being worked on by True Sons soldiers. Aside from the big gun, there were several ports for what appeared to be minigun turrets, mortar launchers, and a few snipers' nests as well. It was a true-to-its-word Iron Horse. There appeared to be at least nine or so train carts in total, each one being about 50 yards in total. There was no telling how long it had taken for such a weapon to be produced, but it was apparent that it was nearing completion.

"We need to take out this thing before it becomes operational," Boudreau said. "As you can see, the shells that go into that godforsaken cannon are about the size of those fiberglass deathtraps that soccer moms and millennial yuppies used to drive." This earned a couple of chuckles around the table, but Boudreau wasn't smiling; he continued, "If I had to take a guess, a round of that size being used on a cannon like that, these fuckers went and built a Paris Gun."

"Uh, do you mind elaborating for some of us who weren't history majors in college?" asked Yaremko. "What in the hell is a Paris Gun?"

"A Paris Gun," said Ryan, "was a weapon used by the Germans in World War I. It was a massive artillery howitzer that fired a shell said to be a 238 mm round. It could hit Paris from 75 miles away. However, judging by the size we're looking at here, I think we're dealing with a weapon that's twice as powerful and can hit twice the distance maybe. From all the files and reports I've read up on, these True Sons guys take their weapons very seriously. A shot from that gun aimed at the White House? It would blow apart the entire damn building, and then some. And if it could do that, then the True Sons would become unstoppable. Destroying this thing before it becomes mobile should be our biggest priority." There were several nods of agreement.

"So it's settled then. Taking out the train is the first priority. Ferrer, what else did you uncover?" Cage asked. Ferrer switched from the clip on-screen to a picture of a SHD-tech equivalent backpack with a blue-light emanating from it. He then spoke up, "We have reason to believe that the True Sons have been experimenting with SHD tech, particularly the nanites that we use in our hives and chem launchers. Combining the nanites from our SHD tech with some of the molten steel from the forges, they produced what we're dubbing the Ironclad system. One of my surveillance drones captured footage of some of the True Sons soldiers testing out its density and thickness, pouring mag after mag into the material once it coated a ballistic vest. We could very well be looking at a gear system similar to that of the kind used by BTSU operative Max 'Boomer' Bailey; in other words, he would be impervious to small arms fire."

That threw everyone for a whirl. A system that made someone impervious to bullets, no matter how many were hitting it? Boomer had been a difficult enough enemy to take down, but that problem had been solved by taking out the generators that emitted the energy signature. A bunch of True Sons running around with this equipped? It would make things damn near impossible to handle. It was at this point that the newest addition of the team, Agent Fisher, decided he would finally speak up.

"Well it'll comfort you all to know that we won't be at a disadvantage," he began. Everyone gave him confused looks, with the exception of Yaremko and Meyers. "We've been working on a new gear system ourselves, one that'll be rather useful in the upcoming fight. I also wanted to say, I'm here not just to help in taking that damned monstrosity down, but I'm also here regarding news on Aaron Keener." All eyes were now on Agent Fisher. He pulled out a file with images, along with using his ISAC smartwatch to pull up footage on the Rogue Agent in question.

"We have concrete evidence that Rogue Agent Aaron Keener is planning a massive attack against the JTF and the Division, both here in Washington, D.C., and in New York City as well. A Rogue Agent by the name of Mary Masters provided information. I'll admit, I was going to kill her, but she provided me with an incentive not to."

"And why is that Agent Fisher?" asked Price. "There'd better be a damn good reason for letting a Rogue Agent go about her way."

"Agent Price, I can assure you and everyone else in this room, there is no need to worry. Masters was working with another Rogue Agent, Molly Henderson. The two of them both have an axe to grind with the Division, but as I said before, Masters valued her life more than her work. During my interrogation with her, she revealed that Henderson was heading up another operation being ran by Keener. As we all know, Keener has possession of the materials used by Gordon Amherst, along with the captive Russian virologist, Vitaly Tchernenko. He's engineered a new bioweapon, which he dubbed the Eclipse virus. It's deadly, and effective, as I've unfortunately stumbled across a market area in New York that had been hit with it." He paused for a moment, taking a drink of water from his canteen.

"The point I'm driving at, my friends, is that both myself and Masters had witnessed the effects of the bioweapon. She wanted nothing to do with it, and neither did Henderson, her head honcho. Masters had been told to get rid of the crate Keener had sent them, which contained five canisters of the virus." He paused again, exhaling as he then said, "She gave that crate to me. I brought it here to the White House so that we could use it against our enemies."

All Hell broke loose from around the table; Ryan and Ryder both were arguing that it would be immoral to use it against anybody, even if it was the True Sons. Ferrer freaked out, saying that Fisher had intentionally doomed them all by bringing such a weapon to the base of operations. Price argued with Yaremko and Meyers, saying that they should've been informed about this development the moment they came into possession, while they said it was better for fewer to know about it. Manny was about ready to lunge at Fisher, who was about to do the same. Cage had finally had enough and turned on his banshee pulse, which shut everyone up while slightly disorienting them all.

"I'm sorry for having to do that, but all of you were about ready to kill each other. I'll let you pull yourselves together before I continue," Cage said coldly. "Now I have a simple proposal for everyone here, and it's quite fair." He looked at Agent Fisher. "Fisher, you're suggesting that we use this as a first strike weapon against the True Sons, correct?" Fisher nodded. "Manny, can you contact Henry Hayes and the survivors from Castle at the Campus Settlement? Tell him it's a matter of utmost urgency." Manny nodded and left the room to do so. "Here's what we'll do. Henry Hayes is currently housing the survivors of the DC-62 attack from the Castle settlement. Now while I do have a strong moral compass, I also am a firm believer of an eye for an eye. So we'll let Henry and the Castle folks decide whether or not we use this weapon against the True Sons. I think that's pretty fair don't you all?" Fisher was the first to agree, followed by Meyers, then Price, and soon everyone was in agreement.

"Well then, that settles it. Now, Agent Fisher, if you could please tell us why it is that you decided to bring the Eclipse virus here, aside from using it against the True Sons?"

Fisher stood back up. "I firmly believe that we could use the bioreactor to mass produce more of this compound. If Keener is going to have an edge against us, wouldn't it be wise to do also have an edge against him?" There were some murmurs of agreement. "Look, think what you will, but at the end of the day, we're all that stands between the Rogues and our other enemies taking over. We all swore an oath to save what remains. I take that oath seriously. And in doing so, I firmly believe that we need to take whatever means necessary to eliminate our enemies and protect those we're oathbound to protect. That's all I've got to say."

Fisher then sat down. As he sat down, Manny came back into the room with Henry Hayes on the comms. "Agent Cage, I've got Henry Hayes on the line. I've already given him a gist of the situation, but he said he wanted to hear it coming directly from you, so go ahead." Cage took the comms piece and spoke into it. "Henry, it's Christopher. We've got a serious threat posed by the True Sons. Worse than what we saw at Jefferson Plaza and the Castle settlement. It's part of the reason why I asked them to be there with you when I made this call. We've got a bioweapon that we can use as a first strike weapon against them before they launch a massive attack on all of us. Because the people of Castle were hit by the True Sons with DC-62, we wanted them to decide the fate of the True Sons with our bioweapon."

There was a very tired sigh coming from Henry Hayes, who finally responded. "You guys heard him right?" He was talking to the survivors from Castle. "It's your decision." More silence followed for about a minute until Henry finally talked again. "They've all come to an agreement," was all he said. Cage, not one for vagueness, asked, "Could you elaborate please? Is that a yes or a no?"

"They said yes. Unanimous. Airstrike approved."

* * *

_**Hey everyone. I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far. So much at stake now! So many twists and now this! Find out next chapter as Operation: Iron Horse begins, with an assault using the Eclipse Virus! What will Webb do when he comes to? How will Kelso and Cage deal with the fact they are parents-to-be now? Who are our new Agents? And how will the Rogues react to this bold and shocking move that the Division makes? See you all soon!**_


	8. Chapter 8

It was your average post-apocalyptic summer day at United Ironworks. Humidity was at an all-time high. A storm was sure to be moving in soon. Colonel Morozova was fast at work with her battalion of True Sons soldiers. She was destined to continue General Ridgeway's work; she just knew it. All of her troops were readying their grand weapon for its upcoming use in the fight to retake Washington, D.C. against the Division and the JTF. Once D.C. had been reclaimed, then she could begin her focus with spreading the True Sons' influence throughout the whole nation. She will reunite the country with an iron will and even more firm resolve; as for anyone who resists, they'll meet the same fate that every opposing side of history's victors have faced.

Humiliating defeat, judgement, and execution, all in that order.

Little did she know that her grand plan was about to be derailed.

* * *

After the decision had been made to utilize the Eclipse payload on the United Ironworks facility, all that was left to discuss was a method of how said payload would be delivered. Fisher suggested that they use drones to hold individual canisters of the stuff and disperse it throughout the compound. Ferrer agreed with that idea, although Yaremko strongly suggested using an actual missile; that idea was dissuaded once the realization hit that they had some kind of early warning system. After all, if the True Sons were going to build a massive weaponized train, it would be no surprise if they had some kind of warning system to let them know of any incoming missiles/artillery. Needless to say, there was much debating that was going on.

Agent Cage wasn't really paying attention to any of it. His mind was elsewhere, focused on Kelso and the fact that they had a kid on the way.

"Agent Cage, what do you think?"

Christopher's attention then snapped back to Fisher and Manny, both whom looked to him for an answer. "I'm sorry, I zoned out. What was the question?"

"We were talking about possibly delivery methods of the Eclipse payload. What do you think we should do?"

Cage leaned forward in his chair and spoke, "I honestly think that we should just use every last bit of the stuff and let the True Sons marinate in it. How many canisters of Eclipse did Masters give you?"

"She gave me 20 canisters of Eclipse."

"Then I think it's best that we go ahead with striker drones carrying the payloads; they'll act as our delivery system, and after they detonate and disperse the bioweapon, we'll then move in with our assault force. It'll be the same as our previous raid on Washington International Airport, we take an 8 man team in and clear 'em all out. If they don't die from Eclipse, they die from us; I think that takes care of business well enough don't you Manny?"

The comms director agreed, nodding his head in approval. "I may not like us using something that a terrorist used, but I understand the greater danger being posed by these assholes. Neutralize all targets. Collect any data you can find. I want these guys dead."

The meeting shortly concluded after that.

* * *

The moment they were released from the conference room, Cage made a beeline for Kelso's bedside in the infirmary. She was asleep, but as he sat down in the chair next to her and grasped her hand, she awoke.

"Hey," she said quietly. "You ok?"

"Don't you think I should be asking you that question Alani?"

The two Agents chuckled, and Kelso spoke again, "I'm fine enough. The surgical procedures they did fixed me up alright enough. I'm just worried about our little situation now."

Cage nodded, knowing that this conversation needed to happen sooner rather than later. "Yeah, it's been on my mind a lot too lately. All I can't help but think about now is this child, our child, and how much danger it's going to be in. We all just had a briefing on a new True Sons threat and the whole time you and this kid were on my mind."

"What do we do Christopher? This changes everything. We're not even supposed to be romantically involved, let alone with one another. And now we've got a kid on the way, along with God knows how many other fucking ordeals that are on their way." Her voice broke towards the end of the sentence. Tears silently streamed down her face and she began to sniffle.

"Hey, hey listen to me Alani," Cage began in a calm and quiet voice. "We're going to make it through all of this alright? You're the fiercest woman I know of, and if I know you, you'll fight tooth and nail to prevent anything from happening to the baby. And you can bet your ass that I will do the same. I refuse to let anything happen to you or our child." He took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking again, "Look. There's something I wanted to tell you. I wanted to say it to you the night that you would get back from your visit to the Campus settlement, but circumstances led us to our current predicament. I want you to know-"

"I love you too Christopher."

Cage was stunned; speechless, to be more exact. The feeling was definitely mutual, but he was just taken aback that she had said it to him first. Cage smiled, leaned down, and kissed Kelso. For the first time in a long time, he was happy; and for the first time in a long time, she was too.

* * *

Marcus Webb woke up, restraints keeping him from rubbing his eyes with his hands. He was groggy at first, but the restraints changed everything in an instant.

"Good! You're awake!"

Webb's eyes shifted towards the source of the noise, and out of the shadows came Aaron Keener. "I'm so glad that you're alright. However, that may change depending on the next few minutes and the questions I have to ask you."

Webb nodded at Keener, "Well go ahead then asshole, ask away."

Keener was stung a little bit at being called an asshole, but he just rolled with the punches. "Why did you slaughter that entire battalion of Black Tusk soldiers in the skyscraper?"

"I did it so that I could have your attention; I also did it so that you could see how much I wanted to actually join you." Keener was shocked, which was a rare occurrence in itself. Then he laughed, "You mean to tell me that you went and killed all those people just to get ahold of little old me? Wow, I'm flattered Marcus. That's a rather cold-blooded thing to do." He chuckled.

"What did you think you would gain from killing them all? Self-clarity? Some peace of mind?"

It was Webb's turn to laugh now. "Yeah, sure Aaron, we'll go with that. What more do you want, eh? I told you already. I killed them as a favor to you. I want us to work together. I see that our mission has failed now. It took longer than it should have, but you were right. I shouldn't try to keep saving people who just aren't worth saving. And no matter what I do, I'm a dead man walking. I shouldn't have survived the Dark Zone whenever I extracted the antivirals, and the only thing I live for is to make those who killed my friends pay for what they did. If anything, I exist only to haunt them." Keener chuckled darkly all of a sudden.

Keener got up, and walked over to Webb. He undid his restraints and helped him up, saying, "Well, it took you long enough. Welcome to the team, Revenant."

"Revenant?"

"Yeah. You say you exist to haunt your enemies right? That's what a revenant does. So that'll be your callsign. Now let's go, we've got work to do."

It had worked. Keener believed what Webb had said. He was in his inner circle. Now he just had to stay alive long enough to kill every last one of them.

* * *

President Andrew Ellis sat in a private office, watching all of the different feeds coming in from around the nation, and from around the world. Pakistan had invaded India. Russia seemed to have stabilized itself. China was reporting the most casualties of the virus, with only 4 million out of their original 1.5 billion people having survived Gordon Amherst's plague. Only 5% of the world's population had survived the apocalypse, and in terms of who was coming out on top, it seemed that no one could tell. All he knew was that he had sided with Sokolova and her bunch from Russia. Before the pandemic, Sokolova and he had planned to take the presidency and unite the American and Russian nations as an unstoppable force in the world. As tragic as it was, the whole outbreak had served them both well.

Now he had but one little obstacle to deal with: The Division.

They had been a thorn in his side. The moment he learned of their existence, he knew that they couldn't be trusted and that they would not assist himself, BTSU, and Miss Sokolova. He was grateful for the Russian assets that she had provided. However, he knew that eventually the Division would trace the organization of "hunters" back to the BTSU and more importantly, the Russians. That would be a major problem.

A problem he meant to fix.

"I know that you're men have dealt with soldiers with similar training to that of a Division Agent before. You trained the Hunters. Are you ready to help usher in an era of unity between Russia and the United States?" asked Ellis. The man to which he was addressing turned around to face the would-be president.

"I am ready to do what needs to be done, but I ain't helping out any damn Russian, you understand?"

"You don't make demands to the president. Hell, I would think you would respect me more!"

"I respect the office of the presidency, but I sure as fuck don't respect you. I know what you did. I know that you signed the order to fall back out of New York's Dark Zone, abandoning all those Agents and making some turn Rogue. But I also know that you're currently the one who's setting everything up for after we've established your 'peace'. You and that Sokolova lady have got some massive balls, pulling this shit off. Just so we're clear, the moment that the Division Agents have either merged with our forces or been eliminated, you _will _return my family to me."

"You just hold up your end of the deal mercenary. I don't care how you do it, just get it done, and get it done now. Get it done Apophis," Ellis said. This guy might be tough, but in the end, he had him by the balls; if Ellis said move this way, the guy would move that way.

Apophis, also known as Roy F. Tholen, would see to it that the job was finished. But he just might be convinced, by himself nonetheless, to kill this piece of shit after he completes his mission. Tholen was of southern heritage, and he was definitely one to follow through on something as monumental as that. He had a temper that could flare up in an instant, and his penetrating stare was enough to make any would-be enemy shit themselves. As much as he despised Ellis and Sokolova, he was getting paid well by them. After all, what kind of fool turns down a contract that damn good?

Definitely not him. He's a hired gun, and while normally his allegiance is to whomever it is that pays him, he also knows that Ellis is a worthless human being. Him and his precious Black Tusk Specialist Unit. That Schaeffer fella was a real asshole as well. But alas, he didn't particularly care for his boss, so long as he got paid.


End file.
